posted January 2, 2008
) Photo by Tim Evearitt (file photo) Tom Glavine returns to Atlanta's starting rotation. |
He landed his primary target in Tom Glavine and gained the speedy Josh Anderson from the Astros at the bargain cost of Oscar Villarreal.
Then he took care of two needs by sending Jose Ascanio to the Cubs in exchange for utility man Omar Infante and left-handed reliever Will Ohman.
More available funds might have allowed for the acquisition of a more experienced center fielder. But working with what he had and taking advantage of a slight bump in payroll, Wren took care of immediate needs and also fortified the future by landing both Jurrjens and top prospect Gorkys Hernandez from the Tigers. When Hernandez comes to the Majors in a couple of years, fans will understand why scouts regard him so highly.
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Arrivals: LHP Glavine, INF Infante, LHP Ohman, RHP Jurrjens, C Javier Lopez and RHP Chris Resop.
Departures: CF Andruw Jones, SS Edgar Renteria, LHP Ron Mahay, RHP Octavio Dotel, INF Julio Franco, OF Willie Harris, RHP Lance Cormier, RHP Ascanio and INF Chris Woodward.
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Manager Bobby Cox has said he'd be comfortable taking this current roster to Spring Training. The starting rotation and lineup appear to be very strong, the bullpen seemingly has the right pieces to be successful and the bench will certainly benefit from Infante's versatility.
Whether or not the Braves can dethrone the Phillies as the NL East champs remains to be seen. But Wren has definitely assembled a team with more depth and options than the one that existed at this time last year.
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Adapted from MLB.com
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